Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange-sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the rind from the oranges and cut them into slices.
Boil the orange slices in a little water until the pulp dissolves.
Strain and press the mixture through a sieve.
Add the juice of the additional oranges and sugar to taste.
Serve warm or cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet oranges
- Provide the main flavour, pulp, and body of the sauce.
- Orange juice
- Adds extra liquid and bright citrus flavour to the finished sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the natural acidity of the oranges.
The step that matters
Boil until the pulp dissolves. Boiling softens the fibrous pulp and breaks it down so it passes through the sieve smoothly. Stopping too early leaves lumps and a grainy sauce.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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